Camden County College honors documentary filmmaker from Barrington with outstanding alumnus award

Award-winning documentary filmmaker Robert A. Emmons Jr. has received Camden County College’s 2011 Outstanding Alumnus Award. The Barrington resident, who holds four academic degrees, said that being an alumnus of any college or university hadn’t been in his life plan until he came to CCC.

“I came to Camden County College on a whim,” Emmons said. “College wasn't on my mind. It wasn't part of my culture or history. But ... it was here that I gained inquisitiveness, the desire and passion to ask more, seek more. It was here that I gained perspective and, most importantly, enlightenment.

“From my time at Camden County College, I found purpose and inspiration, and I used that to challenge myself to go out and do.”

Emmons earned his associate degree in 1996. He later completed a bachelor’s degree at Rowan University, a master’s degree at Rutgers University–Camden and a doctorate at Drew University.

In addition to teaching film, new media and comics history and serving as associate director of the Honors College at Rutgers University–Camden, he has taught and served as an assistant academic director at the Art Institute of Philadelphia. He also has instructed and facilitated filmmaking at the Scribe Video Center in Philadelphia.

Emmons has written, directed, edited, produced, directed photography for and coordinated production for documentaries, short films, music videos and installations. He has served as assistant director of the Philadelphia Video Festival, director of the New Century Cinema Film Festival, judge for the Big Bang Film Festival and advisory board member for the Newark Black Film Festival. He also has written encyclopedia entries, articles and book segments and made presentations – including one on his film Deluxe: The Tale of the Blue Comet at CCC in March – throughout North America.

Emmons, who is affiliated with the International Documentary Association and the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, has been recognized for his talents in academia with program-development grants and excellence awards for both service and teaching. He has been lauded for his talents in filmmaking by the Garden State Film Festival and awarded with the Messenger of Peace distinction from the nation of Mexico for his documentary Goodwill: The Flight of Emilio Carranza.